Harry Potter publisher sees profits surge October 27, 2011 HARRY Potter publisher Bloomsbury posted a 52 per cent rise in its first-half profits after sales of ebooks went through the roof. The firm saw digital sales increase by almost six-fold to £2.5m, jumping to 5.5 per cent of the group’s overall sales. Pre-tax profit beat expectations to hit £2.2m for the half, compared with [...]
Cineworld sales in lift October 25, 2011 CINEMA chain Cineworld said it expected a promising line-up of films in the final quarter to offset weakness in the wider advertising market. The company reported a 0.9 per cent year-on-year increase in total revenues in an interim management statement covering the 42 weeks to 20 October. Box office revenues were up 1.4 per cent [...]
St Ives enjoys earnings jump October 4, 2011 BRITISH printing firm St Ives posted a 28 per cent rise in annual profits yesterday, helped by its shift towards the higher-margin marketing services unit, adding that it will look at more acquisitions in the business. The group, which prints 160m books each year from the Bible to bestsellers like Harry Potter, also raised its [...]
Harry Potter’s website delayed October 3, 2011 THE LAUNCH of the highly anticipated Harry Potter website Pottermore has been delayed after a test version of the site experienced higher than expected traffic. The site will host the first e-book editions of the boy wizard’s tales and is expected to be a financial boon for its author JK Rowling and publisher Bloomsbury. Meanwhile, Warner [...]
Bloomsbury to raise books from the dead September 28, 2011 HARRY Potter publisher Bloomsbury says it will bring out-of-print titles “back from the dead” through a new digital-only imprint. The publisher will focus on books whose English-language rights have reverted back to the author or the author’s estate. Digital sales currently account for around 10 per cent of Bloomsbury’s turnover, with the publisher expecting this [...]
The latest gadgets that will help turn your home into a 3D palace September 21, 2011 3D technology is having a moment. No longer just the add-on special effect confined to the realm of cinemas and the odd Derren Brown show on television, it is now the hero embracing its mainstream appeal. With companies such as Sony, LG and Samsung leading the charge with gadgets that let you recreate the 3D [...]
LONDON’S MAYORS IN THE FRAME FOR STYLE September 4, 2011 WHO ARE the City’s most stylish cyclists? Boris Johnson and Michael Bear, says fashion photographer Horst A Friedrichs, who has immortalised the Mayor of London and the Lord Mayor in a Square Mile photography exhibition of London cyclists on their two-wheeled vehicle of choice. Johnson and Bear are joined in the City Cycle Style exhibition, [...]
Harry Potter magic lifts Cineworld August 18, 2011 CINEWORLD yesterday said it had started the second half strongly, with the latest Harry Potter film fuelling an increase in ticket sales. The group has hiked its dividend despite a drop in first-half profit, triggered by one-off costs. Revenues rose one per cent to £163.6m in the six months to the end of June. Operating [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: IS CINEWORLD COPING WELL IN THE TOUGH MARKET? August 18, 2011 GEETANJALI SHARMA | ESPIRITO SANTO This is a very encouraging set of results from Cineworld. It is encouraging to note that despite Avatar and Alice in Wonderland being in the first half 2010 comparatives and Harry Potter not included in first half 2011, Cineworld’s admissions are up 2.2 per cent year on year. NIGEL PARSON [...]
Potter boosts Bloomsbury August 11, 2011 PUBLISHER Bloomsbury has once again been boosted by the magic of Harry Potter. The release of the latest movie version of JK Rowling’s boy-wizard has waved a wand over sales figures for the entire range of children’s novels. This, coupled with surging ebook sales, led to a “significant improvement” in sales during July and August. [...]